April 29, 2010

Happy Gilmore

As a 21-year-old playing baseball for a living, third baseman Jon Gilmore of the Winston-Salem Dash has more reasons than most for looking forward to work every day. But the biggest reason that Gilmore can’t wait to get to BB&T Ballpark is not so much what he does, as how well he has been doing it. Baseball is a blast when you’re hitting .397, Gilmore’s average going into last night’s home game against the Frederick Keys. He was coming off a four-hit game against the Keys that ran his hitting streak to 14 games and propelled him to third in the Carolina League in batting average behind Eric Hosmer of the Wilmington Blue Rocks (.435) and Oscar Tejada of the Salem Red Sox (.403). “It’s nice when you come to the ballpark and you think you’ve got a good chance of getting a couple of hits,” Gilmore said.

… Gilmore also has benefitted from his relationship with Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays, who is married to Gilmore’s sister Julianna. Zobrist played every position but pitcher and catcher last season with the Rays and hit .297 with 27 homers and 91 RBIs.”He’s been a huge help, really,” Gilmore said. “He can help me with my approach. I got to hit with him a few times in the offseason, and I take every piece of advice I can get from him.”